Scanning the Psychedelic Brain

The geometric visuals and vivid imaginings experienced by those tripping on mushrooms are not, as scientists had suspected, the result of increased brain activity, according to a report out today (23 January) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Instead, under the influence of psilocybin—the psychedelic component of magic mushrooms—brain activity and connectivity decrease. The reduced connectivity might be what frees people’s minds from normal constraints, the researchers propose.

“It was often thought to be the case that these classic hallucinogens must increase brain function—you know, they expand awareness, expand consciousness—but in fact what we see is decreased activity,” said Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, who was not involved in the study.

“I have to say this was totally unexpected,” said David Nutt of Imperial College London, who led the study. But, he added, “when you get exactly the opposite result to what you predict, you know it is right, because there is no bias.”

Although humans have used magic mushrooms for centuries if not millennia, very little is known about how they work. Soon after psychedelics gained widespread popularity in the 1950s and 60s, “the drugs were criminalized and the research into their beneficial uses was suppressed,” explained Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which partly funded the study.

Because of psilocybin’s illegality, organizing and performing the new study was a regulatory ordeal, said Nutt. “You have to go through lots of hoops and get special licenses. You’ve got to have special cupboards and fridges to hold it… it’s a real rigmarole.”

There was also the ethical concern that the volunteers might experience a so-called bad trip. Although psilocybin is generally associated with feelings of euphoria and human connectedness, it can sometimes cause anxiety. Should this have happened, Nutt explained, the person would have been kept safe, calmed down, and if necessary, given Valium. To lessen the chance of a bad experience, all 30 volunteers were chosen on the basis that they had taken hallucinogens at least once before and so would know what to expect.

It was worth all the effort, said Nutt. Psychedelics offer not only insight into the biology of human perception and cognition, but may also be of therapeutic use. And, as it happened, he added, “they all had a good experience—some had very good experiences, some had experiences they said were very meaningful and altered the way they thought about life.”

Nutt and his team administered psilocybin to the volunteers by a slow—one minute long—injection while their brains were scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). “We wanted to know exactly what happens when you make that transition from the normal state to the psychedelic state,” he explained.

The first 15 volunteers had their brains scanned by arterial spin labeling (ASL), an fMRI technique that examines blood flow. After seeing widespread decreases in flow, the researchers were so surprised they scanned a further 15 volunteers by blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) fMRI, which more directly measures metabolism. Both gave strikingly similar results.

Brain blood flow and activity were particularly decreased in the medial prefrontal cortex—a region involved in emotions, learning, memory, and executive function—and the posterior cingulate cortex, the function of which is less clear.

The team also used the fMRI data to look at functional connectivity between these two regions over time, and found that their deactivation was linked. “Assessing circuitry in terms of connectivity is a more sophisticated and informative approach to understanding function, so I think that is the real strength of their work,” said Mark Geyer of the University of San Diego, California, who did not participate in the study.

The two regions are connected by the default mode network (DMN), which integrates brain functions including sensations, memories, and ambitions. “It’s kind of who you are and how you see the world,” said Nutt. The DMN might also act as a cognitive constraining mechanism—to filter and make sense of information. Reduced DMN activity, therefore, might enable an unconstrained mode of cognition, such as that experienced on a magic mushroom trip.

Interestingly, DMN activity is hyperactive in people with depression, suggesting that psilocybin may be effective as a depression treatment.

Taking a hallucinogen to deal with depression might not appeal to everyone. But for those willing to give it a try, the hope is that the need for all medication might be reduced or even eradicated. “Psilocybin would only be given a few times under supervision of a therapist…with the hope that at the end of the process you are no longer dependent on a daily medication,” explained Doblin. “It would be like opening a door and showing them that there is another way of being,” said Nutt.

UKâ€™s government has yet to be impressed with the magic of mushrooms and continues to classify them as a Schedule 1 controlled substances with no currently accepted medical use. Something one could argue bears very well with most established drug manufacturers who have every incentive to continue demonizing natural psychedelics as they pump up their own synthetic and highly profitable depression drugs.

UKâ€™s government has yet to be impressed with the magic of mushrooms and continues to classify them as a Schedule 1 controlled substances with no currently accepted medical use. Something one could argue bears very well with most established drug manufacturers who have every incentive to continue demonizing natural psychedelics as they pump up their own synthetic and highly profitable depression drugs.

UKâ€™s government has yet to be impressed with the magic of mushrooms and continues to classify them as a Schedule 1 controlled substances with no currently accepted medical use. Something one could argue bears very well with most established drug manufacturers who have every incentive to continue demonizing natural psychedelics as they pump up their own synthetic and highly profitable depression drugs.

my experiences affected me in long term ways.Â perceptions of the way my actions affected others seemed to be more relevant to me after my experiences.Â i ultimately feelÂ it made me a more compassionate person.Â i should add it has been 20 years since i've done any hallucinogens.

my experiences affected me in long term ways.Â perceptions of the way my actions affected others seemed to be more relevant to me after my experiences.Â i ultimately feelÂ it made me a more compassionate person.Â i should add it has been 20 years since i've done any hallucinogens.

my experiences affected me in long term ways.Â perceptions of the way my actions affected others seemed to be more relevant to me after my experiences.Â i ultimately feelÂ it made me a more compassionate person.Â i should add it has been 20 years since i've done any hallucinogens.

As I was lying in a hospital bed dying from leukemia (AML) in 2004 and that night when I nearly passed, I had an experience that I cannot come to grips with even now. Â I am told that it was a near death experience . Â I wonder if that experience factors into this discussion. Â Flying butterflies in and out of the windows, buildings that changed shapes, and precognition of the future (I knew that I would be the only patient to survive on my floor with this diagnosis. Â I was. Â What was going on in my brain to open the future to me? By the way, my deceased father and brother visited me. We had quite a chat.

As I was lying in a hospital bed dying from leukemia (AML) in 2004 and that night when I nearly passed, I had an experience that I cannot come to grips with even now. Â I am told that it was a near death experience . Â I wonder if that experience factors into this discussion. Â Flying butterflies in and out of the windows, buildings that changed shapes, and precognition of the future (I knew that I would be the only patient to survive on my floor with this diagnosis. Â I was. Â What was going on in my brain to open the future to me? By the way, my deceased father and brother visited me. We had quite a chat.

As I was lying in a hospital bed dying from leukemia (AML) in 2004 and that night when I nearly passed, I had an experience that I cannot come to grips with even now. Â I am told that it was a near death experience . Â I wonder if that experience factors into this discussion. Â Flying butterflies in and out of the windows, buildings that changed shapes, and precognition of the future (I knew that I would be the only patient to survive on my floor with this diagnosis. Â I was. Â What was going on in my brain to open the future to me? By the way, my deceased father and brother visited me. We had quite a chat.

this is quite a common occurrence from people in your situation, their could be a few things going on here...the two that i think are most likely are that it wasn't your time to go, so your over-soul or higher self designed this experience to enable you to continue with the second part of your life...with a new meaning and purpose..to add to this the brain is known to secrete these neuro-hormones i.e DMT, melatonin, etc...right before death...as i kind of anesthesia and easy passage into the other world...So the circumstances are ideal for this experience...i remember my grandfather on his death bed...talking about huge eagles and birds at his window right before death..from my research i am convinced this world isn't even a slither to what really exists...either within us or without us...hope your well now...;-)

Thank you for your kind words. Â Now, I lecture psychology classes regarding this experience and the process of dying. Â It was a student who told me that hallucinogens gave the same revelations whichÂ disheartenedÂ me somewhat. Â Well, what the heck! Â I have made major life changing decisions in the past several years after the event. Â I am quite a bit happier but my family thinks I am somewhat of an odd ball. Â That being said, the whole process that lavished chemicals in my brain while I lay dying also opened up a whole new frame of reference. Â Yes, there is more than we think. Â Now I am condemned as someone who sees the beyond... ha ha ha ha. Â Life is good. Note the name change.

this is quite a common occurrence from people in your situation, their could be a few things going on here...the two that i think are most likely are that it wasn't your time to go, so your over-soul or higher self designed this experience to enable you to continue with the second part of your life...with a new meaning and purpose..to add to this the brain is known to secrete these neuro-hormones i.e DMT, melatonin, etc...right before death...as i kind of anesthesia and easy passage into the other world...So the circumstances are ideal for this experience...i remember my grandfather on his death bed...talking about huge eagles and birds at his window right before death..from my research i am convinced this world isn't even a slither to what really exists...either within us or without us...hope your well now...;-)

this is quite a common occurrence from people in your situation, their could be a few things going on here...the two that i think are most likely are that it wasn't your time to go, so your over-soul or higher self designed this experience to enable you to continue with the second part of your life...with a new meaning and purpose..to add to this the brain is known to secrete these neuro-hormones i.e DMT, melatonin, etc...right before death...as i kind of anesthesia and easy passage into the other world...So the circumstances are ideal for this experience...i remember my grandfather on his death bed...talking about huge eagles and birds at his window right before death..from my research i am convinced this world isn't even a slither to what really exists...either within us or without us...hope your well now...;-)

Thank you for your kind words. Â Now, I lecture psychology classes regarding this experience and the process of dying. Â It was a student who told me that hallucinogens gave the same revelations whichÂ disheartenedÂ me somewhat. Â Well, what the heck! Â I have made major life changing decisions in the past several years after the event. Â I am quite a bit happier but my family thinks I am somewhat of an odd ball. Â That being said, the whole process that lavished chemicals in my brain while I lay dying also opened up a whole new frame of reference. Â Yes, there is more than we think. Â Now I am condemned as someone who sees the beyond... ha ha ha ha. Â Life is good. Note the name change.

Thank you for your kind words. Â Now, I lecture psychology classes regarding this experience and the process of dying. Â It was a student who told me that hallucinogens gave the same revelations whichÂ disheartenedÂ me somewhat. Â Well, what the heck! Â I have made major life changing decisions in the past several years after the event. Â I am quite a bit happier but my family thinks I am somewhat of an odd ball. Â That being said, the whole process that lavished chemicals in my brain while I lay dying also opened up a whole new frame of reference. Â Yes, there is more than we think. Â Now I am condemned as someone who sees the beyond... ha ha ha ha. Â Life is good. Note the name change.

The use of psychedelics was so common in California in the 60s, that the political backlash against them was stimulated by Reagan's dirty tricks (using lies and staged riots at love-ins to gain headlines in the news media, in order to force governor Pat Brown (whom he was running against in the elections) to push through legislation against LSD. Â That didn't help Pat Brown, but Reagan rode the "just say NO" slogan all the way to the White House 15 years later. Â However, without legal sanction, some of us used the first portable brainwave analyzers developed by Aquarius Electronics (1969) to study the effects of psychedelics on brainwave activity. Â It became clear to me, that when brainwaves develop slow-wave activity that is coherent across the brain, it is possible for the consciousness to "see" the energy wave-forms around life, magnetic fields, etc. Â These are not hallucinations. Â They are described in "The Psychedelic Experience - A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead." (by Leary, Metzner, Alpert, 1965) Different types of visions are described in this book, such as: "Vision 4 â€” The Wave-Vibration Structure of External Forms." Â When consciousness is released from local concerns of the brain (through meditation, psychedelics, trauma, etc.), it can become non-attached to those parts of the brain that keep track of time and space. Â From that level, a person might experience: 1) Any of the Bardos described centuries ago by the Tibetans; 2) remote viewing; 3) Out of the body experiences, etc. Â This Leary, Metzner, Alpert, translation of ancient texts to be used to guide psychedelic sessions became the link to sanity during that crazy political period. Â Fifty years have gone by. Â We all owe an intense "thank you" to Rick Doblin who has pushed the establishment to allow these studies to be done legally, finally.

The use of psychedelics was so common in California in the 60s, that the political backlash against them was stimulated by Reagan's dirty tricks (using lies and staged riots at love-ins to gain headlines in the news media, in order to force governor Pat Brown (whom he was running against in the elections) to push through legislation against LSD. Â That didn't help Pat Brown, but Reagan rode the "just say NO" slogan all the way to the White House 15 years later. Â However, without legal sanction, some of us used the first portable brainwave analyzers developed by Aquarius Electronics (1969) to study the effects of psychedelics on brainwave activity. Â It became clear to me, that when brainwaves develop slow-wave activity that is coherent across the brain, it is possible for the consciousness to "see" the energy wave-forms around life, magnetic fields, etc. Â These are not hallucinations. Â They are described in "The Psychedelic Experience - A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead." (by Leary, Metzner, Alpert, 1965) Different types of visions are described in this book, such as: "Vision 4 â€” The Wave-Vibration Structure of External Forms." Â When consciousness is released from local concerns of the brain (through meditation, psychedelics, trauma, etc.), it can become non-attached to those parts of the brain that keep track of time and space. Â From that level, a person might experience: 1) Any of the Bardos described centuries ago by the Tibetans; 2) remote viewing; 3) Out of the body experiences, etc. Â This Leary, Metzner, Alpert, translation of ancient texts to be used to guide psychedelic sessions became the link to sanity during that crazy political period. Â Fifty years have gone by. Â We all owe an intense "thank you" to Rick Doblin who has pushed the establishment to allow these studies to be done legally, finally.

The use of psychedelics was so common in California in the 60s, that the political backlash against them was stimulated by Reagan's dirty tricks (using lies and staged riots at love-ins to gain headlines in the news media, in order to force governor Pat Brown (whom he was running against in the elections) to push through legislation against LSD. Â That didn't help Pat Brown, but Reagan rode the "just say NO" slogan all the way to the White House 15 years later. Â However, without legal sanction, some of us used the first portable brainwave analyzers developed by Aquarius Electronics (1969) to study the effects of psychedelics on brainwave activity. Â It became clear to me, that when brainwaves develop slow-wave activity that is coherent across the brain, it is possible for the consciousness to "see" the energy wave-forms around life, magnetic fields, etc. Â These are not hallucinations. Â They are described in "The Psychedelic Experience - A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead." (by Leary, Metzner, Alpert, 1965) Different types of visions are described in this book, such as: "Vision 4 â€” The Wave-Vibration Structure of External Forms." Â When consciousness is released from local concerns of the brain (through meditation, psychedelics, trauma, etc.), it can become non-attached to those parts of the brain that keep track of time and space. Â From that level, a person might experience: 1) Any of the Bardos described centuries ago by the Tibetans; 2) remote viewing; 3) Out of the body experiences, etc. Â This Leary, Metzner, Alpert, translation of ancient texts to be used to guide psychedelic sessions became the link to sanity during that crazy political period. Â Fifty years have gone by. Â We all owe an intense "thank you" to Rick Doblin who has pushed the establishment to allow these studies to be done legally, finally.

More studies need to be done to use this in a regular basis. Traditional uses and using it onceÂ a while may give some experiences, but this to make it a popular medicine, statistical evidence is needed, reasons of depression and effect of magic mushrooms needs to be correlated

That was really beautiful. It is strange that sometimes we just 'know' things rather than learn of them from other rather more conventional methods. It reminded me of when I was in hospital, and the lady in the next bed was extremely ill, and I heard the nurses say, that she was not expected to last the night. I began to send her healing, calling in the Arc Angels, and it was an amazing experience just doing it...so powerful...even though I was ill myself.

I woke in the morning, to see a lot of activity around her bed, and the nurses were amazed at how well she appeared to be. When they had goe, she turned to me and said,' you prayed for me last night, didn't you.'Â I smiled and said that I had. She thanked me, and I said it was my pleasure.

It was a very moving experience. I knew I could help that lady that night.

That was really beautiful. It is strange that sometimes we just 'know' things rather than learn of them from other rather more conventional methods. It reminded me of when I was in hospital, and the lady in the next bed was extremely ill, and I heard the nurses say, that she was not expected to last the night. I began to send her healing, calling in the Arc Angels, and it was an amazing experience just doing it...so powerful...even though I was ill myself.

I woke in the morning, to see a lot of activity around her bed, and the nurses were amazed at how well she appeared to be. When they had goe, she turned to me and said,' you prayed for me last night, didn't you.'Â I smiled and said that I had. She thanked me, and I said it was my pleasure.

It was a very moving experience. I knew I could help that lady that night.

That was really beautiful. It is strange that sometimes we just 'know' things rather than learn of them from other rather more conventional methods. It reminded me of when I was in hospital, and the lady in the next bed was extremely ill, and I heard the nurses say, that she was not expected to last the night. I began to send her healing, calling in the Arc Angels, and it was an amazing experience just doing it...so powerful...even though I was ill myself.

I woke in the morning, to see a lot of activity around her bed, and the nurses were amazed at how well she appeared to be. When they had goe, she turned to me and said,' you prayed for me last night, didn't you.'Â I smiled and said that I had. She thanked me, and I said it was my pleasure.

It was a very moving experience. I knew I could help that lady that night.

More studies need to be done to use this in a regular basis. Traditional uses and using it onceÂ a while may give some experiences, but this to make it a popular medicine, statistical evidence is needed, reasons of depression and effect of magic mushrooms needs to be correlated

More studies need to be done to use this in a regular basis. Traditional uses and using it onceÂ a while may give some experiences, but this to make it a popular medicine, statistical evidence is needed, reasons of depression and effect of magic mushrooms needs to be correlated

Julie you may want to consider this linkÂ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Â which explains how the Pineal gland produces good old DMT Â On my end as artist apprentice to the father of Op Art = who discovered the double or reverse after-image (1952) and corrected the erroneous nonsense in a concept called the Simultaneous Contrast redefining color knowledge to include Simultaneous Presence colors and by taking those colors and using a ancient design of the ancient Americas plus encasement in brown and than blue as seen here:Â www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi... the image has over 12 various levels of perception. Some of those levels act as if on handful of window panes or several sheets of blotter acid. Save the interaction is simply head oriented and stops upon moving out of perceptual levels by looking away. The main acid like perception engages another concept of the 1800's called the Pulfric effect in that the arms - tentacles - volutes move off in two opposing directions (Dr Lit had a single metrodome arm and when you wore his gray glasses it moved into two directions with a kick to the brain Lit managed to standardize sunglasses so silly helicopter pilots quit trying to land next to a buddy quit their rather poor habit of landing on top of the helicopter). The brown turns pitch black. The colors intensify and the 3d effect if four foot thick but not like a magic eye effect in that the interactions are more like syrup with motions and sound control effects into the hundred of thousands of visual delights. Presentiment, precognition is part and parcel to using these portions of the brain without drugs instead using the purer form the body produces. And its nice to not be at the end of life only.

It's too bad scientists these days avoid the obvious growth in optical knowledge ;) The ancient ones 4600 to 5200 years ago were better scientists tversus those who only blather on and on over trivial matters.

Julie you may want to consider this linkÂ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Â which explains how the Pineal gland produces good old DMT Â On my end as artist apprentice to the father of Op Art = who discovered the double or reverse after-image (1952) and corrected the erroneous nonsense in a concept called the Simultaneous Contrast redefining color knowledge to include Simultaneous Presence colors and by taking those colors and using a ancient design of the ancient Americas plus encasement in brown and than blue as seen here:Â www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi... the image has over 12 various levels of perception. Some of those levels act as if on handful of window panes or several sheets of blotter acid. Save the interaction is simply head oriented and stops upon moving out of perceptual levels by looking away. The main acid like perception engages another concept of the 1800's called the Pulfric effect in that the arms - tentacles - volutes move off in two opposing directions (Dr Lit had a single metrodome arm and when you wore his gray glasses it moved into two directions with a kick to the brain Lit managed to standardize sunglasses so silly helicopter pilots quit trying to land next to a buddy quit their rather poor habit of landing on top of the helicopter). The brown turns pitch black. The colors intensify and the 3d effect if four foot thick but not like a magic eye effect in that the interactions are more like syrup with motions and sound control effects into the hundred of thousands of visual delights. Presentiment, precognition is part and parcel to using these portions of the brain without drugs instead using the purer form the body produces. And its nice to not be at the end of life only.

It's too bad scientists these days avoid the obvious growth in optical knowledge ;) The ancient ones 4600 to 5200 years ago were better scientists tversus those who only blather on and on over trivial matters.

Julie you may want to consider this linkÂ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Â which explains how the Pineal gland produces good old DMT Â On my end as artist apprentice to the father of Op Art = who discovered the double or reverse after-image (1952) and corrected the erroneous nonsense in a concept called the Simultaneous Contrast redefining color knowledge to include Simultaneous Presence colors and by taking those colors and using a ancient design of the ancient Americas plus encasement in brown and than blue as seen here:Â www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi... the image has over 12 various levels of perception. Some of those levels act as if on handful of window panes or several sheets of blotter acid. Save the interaction is simply head oriented and stops upon moving out of perceptual levels by looking away. The main acid like perception engages another concept of the 1800's called the Pulfric effect in that the arms - tentacles - volutes move off in two opposing directions (Dr Lit had a single metrodome arm and when you wore his gray glasses it moved into two directions with a kick to the brain Lit managed to standardize sunglasses so silly helicopter pilots quit trying to land next to a buddy quit their rather poor habit of landing on top of the helicopter). The brown turns pitch black. The colors intensify and the 3d effect if four foot thick but not like a magic eye effect in that the interactions are more like syrup with motions and sound control effects into the hundred of thousands of visual delights. Presentiment, precognition is part and parcel to using these portions of the brain without drugs instead using the purer form the body produces. And its nice to not be at the end of life only.

It's too bad scientists these days avoid the obvious growth in optical knowledge ;) The ancient ones 4600 to 5200 years ago were better scientists tversus those who only blather on and on over trivial matters.